Breaking Chains
by Luna Dial
Summary: Rhyme never saw it coming. Neither did Beat. She saw it as a normal day, until she saw the car out of the corner of her eyes. The whole game, in Rhyme's perspective.
1. Prolouge

Foreword from Rita- Well, second one here! This takes place before and during the games, and is part of Rhyme's point of view during the games. This is at least the prologue, though, so we get to the…okay, I should shut up now. XD

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The dream wasn't what the girl has seen before. Blood, she saw, and the tips of someone's blonde hair dyed pink from it, and she and the body were surrounded by darkness then. It suddenly struck the girl that this could have been her, maybe, or her brother. She shook her head. It probably wasn't from her, yet…

The dead body wore a orange sweater, with a heart-shaped skull and crossbones on it. White overalls, half-way down, the top part of it forming a half skirt, black and orange tennis shoes, the blonde head covered with a black hat with a gem skull pin on it, and last but not least, a bell necklace.

The girl shuddered in fear, and fell onto her behind. She hugged her legs to her chest, knowing that the body was her's, for sure. She just didn't know why it was her body. She didn't even have any clothes like that, except for the bell. It was the same exact bell, and it was a rare pendant, given to her by her brother. Trembling, she closed her eyes, wanting to get away from this dream.

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Rhyme's alarm went off, though she had forgotten that the short Summer vacation was here already, and she had no need to wake up at 7:30 in the morning for now. Regardless of that, she climbed out of bed, her hair filled with cow-licks, and had on the usual nightwear- a Lolita skull t-shirt, and white sweatpants. It wasn't a good set of night clothes, but she did find them comfy.

She stretched, and yawned, then hitting the off button on the clock on her nearby nightstand. Taking a comb, she quickly straightened her hair, and put on her slippers. She creaked her door open, and looked out of the safety of her room.

_They aren't at it again…Thank Lord._ Rhyme thought to herself. Her brother, Beat, and her parents were almost fighting constantly, and it worried her badly. She stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind her, and stepped into the kitchen. The home was just a small one- One floor, but it had two bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a decent-sized living room, along with the kitchen.

"Good morning." Rhyme said, as she sat upon one of the cushions by the table, her legs underneath her, expecting breakfast to not even be started on, yet to her surprise, her mother was cooking at this time.

"Morning, Raimu-Chan." Her mother had replied, busy cooking miso soup.

"Will you be needing any help, Okaa-San?" Rhyme asked her mom.

"At least let your brother know that breakfast is almost ready. He should be listening to music right about now, as always." Her mother sighed, as she turned on the rice cooker, and put away the miso seasoning.

"Alright." With that, Rhyme got back up, and walked again, into the hallway. Her father was in the living room, which was on the other side of the kitchen, and it was connected into the hallway. She stepped into the hallway, though, and she certainly heard a small trace of music. She came up to her brother's door, which had many different little decorations on it. She knocked onto the door. No answer. She knocked on it again, but there was the usual reply- "One second, yo!"

Rhyme opened the door, and poked her head inside.

"O-nii-san~" She almost sung, letting each syllable drown out. She noticed that he had his mp3 player on, and was dancing funny, his back to her. She giggled, and her brother suddenly stopped, and looked behind him.

"Bwaaaaah! Rhyme, don't scare me like that!" Her brother asked.

_The funniest brother, ever._ Rhyme thought, giggling again. "Sorry, Onii-san."

"Rhyme, ya can call me Beat, ya know." Beat shrugged. He was already dressed, as early as it already was.

"Well, mom wanted me to tell you that breakfast is almost done," Winking at him, she added, "And its your favorite, too- Miso soup and rice, instead of omelets today!"

Her brother cheered in happiness. It wasn't really his favorite, but cheese omelets were all that their parents could afford to have for breakfast each day, since the dinners were usually pricy and they had a fridge too, so the eggs and milk wouldn't go bad. Yet, they were finally able to have a traditional breakfast, which was always a better meal then the omelets.

"Oh, I also have something fo' ya. I'll hand it to ya after 'fast, sis." Her brother said. She was slightly confused. She did know that her brother did care for her, but how could he have gotten it? Rhyme just had to wonder…

Breakfast went by fast. Luckily for Rhyme, her father was still a little tired, so there wasn't an argument at the table. After breakfast, she followed Beat to his room, where he produced two small boxes, one of them being kind that normally holds clothes, and the other, a shoe box. Opening it, she gasped a little. It was the same shirt and overalls she had on, in her dream, and the hat, too. The shoe box even held the same kind of shoes. Regardless of the similarity to the clothes in her dream, she went to her room and tried them on.

She had trouble of trying to make the overalls look like what it had looked like in her dream. She liked it that way, better than having it cover her shirt. She showed Beat, who fixed her problem for her, and she was soon looking like what she had in her dream. It scared her a little, but what was there to be frightened about? It was probably just déjà vu, nothing more.

"How does it look now?" Beat asked, afterwards.

"I like it." She had a big smile on her face. She had truly liked the outfit. She gave her brother a hug, but her phone went off. The cell phones her family would carry around was part of the reason why they had a few money problems, but as crowded as Shibuya was, they definitely came in handy. Especially at Rhyme's age. Unexpectedly for her, it had rescued her once, after she got caught between two gangs fighting over who would kidnap her. They had let their guard down, and she had been able to call the police, yet she told no one after that, and wanted to keep it that way. Her parents were even kind enough to go and keep it a secret.

She got a message from her friend, asking if she could come over, to at least chat. Rhyme said thanks to her brother once more, and her parents cleared her to go out. Her friend only lived a few blocks away, and Rhyme happily walked over.

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The trip was only a few hours. Her friend had asked if Rhyme would want to tag along with her to the movies in the message, which Rhyme was already given permission to. The two friends had a good time, at least, and chatted for a while after the movie. Time was soon flying by, and Rhyme had to head over back home.

Arriving home was not wonderful. She could hear her brother and father starting to argue, and she went to her room, after quickly telling her mother she was back. She read a book, which helped her drown out the unbalanced peace in the house.

Dinner was also soon done, and she could feel the angry stares of her brother staring at her father. She calmly took small bites, her heart beating, and she could feel it pounding against her. While transporting a bite of rice to her mouth, her father finally slammed down his chopsticks on the table, and also his bowl of rice, too.

"Don't you stare at me like that, Daisukenojo Bito!" Her father yelled at Beat. Her hand stopped halfway, and her mouth immediately shut tight.

"I'm not the one who did it at school, ya hear me?!" Beat yelled back at his father. Rhyme winced, and dropped her chopsticks, and her hands stayed where they were.

"Now look at what you made Raimu do! You scared her!" Their father once again yelled at Beat.

"Don't bring Rhyme into this!" The hard-headed teen yelled back.

"Please excuse me…" Rhyme whispered to her mother, and walked to her room. She could hear their voices, as the stress of worrying got to her. She ran to the nearest bathroom. She truly didn't like this all, and she was still suffering from her family arguing two days ago.

After letting out her stress, she filled up a small paper cup with water and rinsed her mouth. She truly didn't like where this all was going. Apparently, this time, someone from Beat's school had covered a full wall of the building outside with graffiti. CAT, a designer in Shibuya who would make all kinds of clothes, pins, music, Etc. was thought to have been the one to do it. He (or she) was known for their amazing graffiti artwork, but CAT wasn't the one who did it. So, the school officials have been leaning towards a false idea that Beat did it. Rhyme knew it wasn't true, but her brother wouldn't let her say anything in it.

She hopped onto her bed, and grabbed a pillow, placing it over her legs, as she pulled her legs back to her chest, as she had done in her dream. More of the argument had followed, and Rhyme was crying a few tears. She didn't know why her brother and parents were like this. She heard the door slam, and looked at her door, knowing that Beat must have left.

Rhyme opened the door quietly, and shut it quietly. Without telling her parents, she put on her tennis shoes, and walked out the door. She looked both ways, and saw Beat heading over to the scramble crossing. Careful to not let him out of her sight, she followed him, over to the Miyashita park underpass. Her brother was walking at the sidewalk there, and she ran after him.

"Beat!" She cried out, hoping to get her brother to stop. He looked back, and saw her running to him. He seemed to mumble something, and hopped onto his skateboard, crossing the street. She ran up, and began to cross the street, but she saw Beat's eyes widen to her left, and she stopped in the middle of the walk path, as her bell ringed. He started running to her, and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a car going over the speed limit, heading right at her.

She began to scream, as Beat tackled her, and covered her with his body to protect her. The car then made impact, hitting Beat on his side, and Rhyme in the head, hard enough for it to be numb. Beat immediately let Rhyme go for some reason, and she could feel her brother not breathing when he did, and she tumbled ahead. Her head kept on hitting the ground, hard, and the vehicle sped away, as she finally stopped on her back. She could feel the blood rushing from her head onto her back, and her vision came to a blur. She looked over to her right, and with eyes blurred with tears, she saw Beat on his side.

Rhyme knew of the fate that hit her brother, and knew it would come to her. Feelings of regret poured into her fading mind.

_If only I didn't follow him…If only they didn't argue…If only I wasn't so stupid to not look for cars…_She shed a small tear, and her eyes finally closed. She no longer felt the warmth of the blood, or the asphalt, and not even the numbness of her head. All she could sense was the voices of worry at her brother and herself.

Then, all of the voices then muted. Rhyme couldn't open her eyes, but she felt as if someone was next to her. The person then began to speak.

"_Welcome to the Underground, Raimu Bito."_ The voice said.


	2. Week 1, Day 1: The first mission

Foreword from Rita- Okay, Day 1 is up. Day 2 will come after I finish day 3, and begin the dreaded day 4. TT_TT

Yeah, as for the message, I needed an excuse so I could go and make the ending of the mission a bit more epic, since if a team of players finishes a mission, the other teams win, and as we all know- Shiki and Neku are the one's that save the other player's butts from erasure, especially considering the fact that they got there just in time...

But, as another thing, didn't anybody see Joshua when you meet Shiki in this episode? I'm serious- look at the bottom screen during the dialouge, and you will see Joshua's character. And so, he could bend things for the two siblings, right?

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Raimu suddenly opened her eyes, and woke up at the street scramble. She remembered that her parents and brother had an argument, and as her brother left, she followed, and both were in a car accident. But…why couldn't she remember who her brother was? What he even looked like? It was all strange to her.

Her phone then vibrated. She opened it, and found a message.

"_Head to the 104 building.  
__Time limit- 60 minutes,  
__Starting after the early ones get partners.  
("Rhyme" "Beat" "Hana" and "Renee".)__  
__Fail, and face erasure._

_-The Reapers."_

"Reap…ers?" Rhyme wondered aloud. Her nickname given to her by her brother was on the small list of the early ones, too. The list of four people must be the ones who at least get their timers when they get a partner, since they're early.

_Now I remember. I was being told the rules by one, too...I think. So I have to make a pact with someone to destroy the Noise, huh…? _Rhyme thought, and a pack of frog Noise suddenly appeared. She thought about running, but before she could take a step, a teen with a white tank top, khaki pants, and a hat similar to her's (This teen being Beat, but she didn't remember him), and he rushed in on a skateboard.

"Yo, lets make a pact! You wouldn't want to have to fight these guys alone, right? I could tell you weren't a player cuz I couldn't scan ya." He asked, adding the small note. She just looked at him. She didn't have a partner, of course, and she did need to fight off the monsters…

The two then were embraced by a ray of blue light, symbolizing that a pact had formed. Her hand instantly rung with pain, and a timer appeared.

"Well, I think we made a pact." Rhyme said, uneasy. She wasn't sure who he was, but he sure seemed to be a good guy, despite his appearance. He attacked the Noise, and a battle started. She was separated from him in battle, but remembered that she was told how two players fight in two different dimensions. Rhyme also had no idea how to fight. Her partner had his skateboard, but she had nothing.

A frog had formed from the Noise symbols, and ran after her. Not knowing what to do, she lightly punched the monster in defense. The frog flinched in pain, so hitting it with her bare hands had worked. Rhyme had studied a small bit of martial arts, just by looking at the boys practicing them in her gym classes. Jumping, she swiftly landed on one of the frogs, defeating that one, and jumped back into the air, landing on the ground. As it was defeated, a few pins flew to her, and they were green ones, with a small icon that looked like a soda can.

"Nice work," Her partner appeared behind her, and gave her a small smile. "You did good."

Remembering that she didn't know this person, she then opened her mouth to speak. "We haven't officially met yet, haven't we? I'm Raimu Bito, Rhyme for short. Nice to meet you."

He looked uneasy, and looked like he was in shock. After a few moments, he said something himself.

"You can call me Beat…nice to meet you too…" He mumbled. Rhyme cocked her head to the side.

"Is something wrong?" She knew something was up, so that's why she asked. He just perked his head up.

"No, nothing," He looked away. "The 104 building should be this way. A simple mission."

"Its gonna get tougher, though." Rhyme said, uncomfortably.

"True…"

Beat started to the building, and Rhyme followed. She thought that she had seen something shining, but before she could ask her partner about it, Beat ran head-first into a invisible wall, and landed on his back. She then ran to him.

"What the hell?" Beat murmured, just as Rhyme came to his side.

"Pact confirmed. Wall clear." A distant voice said. Rhyme turned around, but there was nobody unusual she saw. Looking in front of her, she placed her hand out, and reached out past where the wall was.

"Whatever it was, its gone now…" She concluded. Beat just looked confused, as she helped him up.

"But it was jus' there…" He was still confused, as she started to walk ahead.

"Now, now, not so fast here!" Rhyme heard a voice behind Beat and herself. She turned around to find a short pink-haired woman, dressed in a strange blue outfit, with…black wings?

"Who are you?" She softly asked the woman, eyeing her wings. She wondered if they were fake, since they looked so realistic.

"A Reaper. Couldn't you tell by the wings?" The woman annoyingly asked. The Reaper who welcomed Rhyme into the UG didn't have wings, or was he not a Reaper, but just something else…? She shook her head. She didn't remember what he looked like much, but just the fact that he looked like the guy who ran the coffee shop near her home. She didn't even remembered who he looked like.

"What do ya want?" Beat asked, and prepared for a battle.

"Don't provoke her, Beat. We don't have much time…" Rhyme murmured, eyeing her right hand. 20 minutes had remained, but she knew that if a battle started, then they wouldn't be able to get back in time. She could feel her heart pounding. She really didn't want to be erased.

"Why should I say?" With that, the Reaper summoned Noise. Instantly, Beat attacked them, and Rhyme was also thrown into battle, and she fell back, landing on her behind as she was thrown into it. Her enemies took form in a giant bear monster, and a frog. Her mouth widened, as she stared in shock. The bear came up to her, and she crawled back, soon getting up and running. She had no idea how to attack this one.

Eying the frogs, she attacked them, ignoring the bear. After they were gone, she turned around, and was thrown to the side by the bear, smacking her around with its giant paw. She felt weak, and knew that it wasn't a good sign. She tried to think, and remembered the pin. Digging through, she found another, which looked like her jumping upon a monster. (This happened to be a psych that would allow her to defeat monsters this way) She finally found the new pin, and tried to concentrate on it, and a soda can came out of nowhere. She tried drinking it, and instantly, her's and Beat's health was cured.

_That's a keeper._ Rhyme thought to herself, and focused on the frogs again. Trying to see if there was another one hiding, she found two more- The one that allowed her to punch the monster back when she was guarding herself, and one where she could ram into monsters to damage them. Unsure which pin to use, it started to walk to her, and raised its paw. Before it could swipe at her, it disappeared. She fell back behind in shock, also landing on her behind again, and out of breath. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could have thought she had seen two people run by, more in a hurry than anyone else.

"Man…no more of that, please…" Beat appeared next to her, also out of breath. He turned to the spot where the Reaper was, and Rhyme turned her head. But the Reaper had fled.

"She's….gone…" Rhyme said, in-between breaths. She looked at her clock, which was ticking down on the final seconds for them. She wondered if the other players had gotten there on time, but she wasn't sure. She was an early arriver, according to the person who welcomed her and told her the rules, so it could have been possible that she and Beat got the message early. Then she remembered- She did get it early. She started crying, and then, suddenly, before it went to 0:00, it disappeared.

"Huh? We haven't completed the mission, yet…" She said, aloud. Beat looked at his hand.

"You're right, sis- err…Rhyme." Beat immediately corrected himself. Rhyme wondered at that, as Beat spoke up.

"I had a sister named Raimu, in case ya are wonderin'. She looked a lot like ya…Even had the same necklace. I died while protectin' her…"He started to cry. Rhyme was silent. She knew that her brother had died right before Rhyme did, but she knew that it wasn't Beat, according to her calculations. It could have been a simple coincidence....Or was it?

Before she could think of it more, she blacked out, and fell asleep.

Week 1, Day 1 End


	3. Week 1, Day 2: Neku and Shiki

She woke up, this time in the West bus exit terminal. Beat was still resting, not to far from her. She stretched, and took out her phone, and started playing with it. She found a Pin section, and noted of its uses for her, later on.

"Hah! You're going down, Reaper---Rhyme…RHYME?! BWAAAAAH!" Beat realized that he was waking up, and he was shouting his insults at the Reapers in his dream at Rhyme. She just gazed at him, then started laughing. Her partner stared at her as if she was crazy.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself from laughing." She said, wiping away a small tear that formed from her eyes. Her partner just looked confused still, but gave a smile.

_He may look tough, but he has a soft heart. _Rhyme thought, smiling back at Beat. Remembering about what she found in her phone, she pulled it out and showed the pin section to him.

"I found this earlier. I think it will help me a bit when we get more pins." She said, pointing to the menu. He opened his and showed that he had a similar menu, except his was to tune his skateboard easily so it wouldn't go running off.

"Found it when I came here, but it helps. No offense to ya." He said, a little disappointed. She wasn't worried one little bit, so she shook her head, as she closed her phone.

"Its fine." She said, with a smile. Her phone buzzed in her hand, then, and brushing a strand of hair aside, she opened it again and looked at it.

"_Set the cursed sculpture free.  
__You have 60 minutes.  
__Fail, and face erasure.  
__The Reapers."_

After facing the usual burning shock in her hand, she looked around at the surroundings, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a girl with pink hair and a stuffed cat, while a orange-haired boy wearing headphones followed her out of the nearby Station Underpass. Rhyme scanned the area for clues, but she couldn't read their minds. Rhyme went up to Beat, and tugged at the hem of his shirt. He looked at her, and she pointed them.

"Beat, I think they're players. I can't scan them." She told him. Her partner looked at the two, who almost seemed to be arguing. Beat started to walk up to them, and Rhyme ran after him, to keep up. The girl was shouting something at the boy, but Beat interrupted them.

"Gotcha punks." Beat told them. The girl turned around, surprised. Rhyme took a close look at them, and noticed, that both were players. She could tell by looking at their player pins, which were located on the girl's stuffed cat, and the boy was wearing his.

"Beat, they're players!" Rhyme whispered to Beat, but he seemed to not hear anything.

"Wha-Who's there?!" The pink-haired girl shouted at the two. Beat walked up to them, and Rhyme followed, worried. Beat looked like as if he was ready for a fight.

"You got us good yesterday, but today I'ma crush you, yo!" Beat told the two, but the girl still looked half-shocked, half-confused. Rhyme then came up, finally catching up.

"Um…What? You've got the wrong person. Neku, do you know this guy?" The girl nervously asked her partner.

"Don't insult me." Neku coldly replied.

"Need a hint? Go ask your friends." Beat interrupted them.

" 'Friends?' What are you talking about?" The girl asked at the two. She started to look a little annoyed. But then again, who could blame her? Beat then got in a fury.

"Beat…They're players…" Rhyme told Beat, but he still didn't listen.

"Shut up, yo! You ain't foolin' me! You gotta be widdem! You can't outsmart me, yo!" Beat yelled at them.

"Wait, just--" The girl said, but Rhyme soon interrupted her.

"Beat, stop it!" Rhyme yelled, to go and get his attention. A saying she always followed, was, "If you don't succeed, try, try again." Continuing what she had to say, she finally had her partner's attention. "They're not Reapers! They're players, just like us."

"What?" Beat asked, confused. She then pointed at their player pins.

"See? They've got player pins. Players must not be able to scan each other. Remember? You couldn't scan me, either." She said, noting of his introduction to her. He did mention that he could tell she was a player, because he couldn't scan her. He was silent.

"Oh…." Turning back to the girl, he apologized. "Yo, sorry I jumped to conclusions…"

The girl didn't look so shocked anymore. "No worries. You just gave us a start."

"Yesterday this pink-haired chick cornered us before we could get to 104," Beat said, with a sigh, and continued on. "Then Pinky sicked a buncha Noise on us…Messed us up bad, yo."

"So that's why you were out for payback." The girl said. Rhyme then realized something. They all didn't know each other.

"Yup," She said, still with her smiles as always.

"…Hey, hold up. We should do introductions. The name's Beat and this is my…" Beat said, pointing to Rhyme, and then pausing. "My partner, Rhyme."

"Hello!" She said, smiling cheerfully. The pink-haired girl then smiled back.

"Hi! I'm Shiki. That over there is Neku. He's my partner." Shiki said, introducing her and Neku. Neku had his back to the group, and seemed to have his music on louder, and was silent.

"Wha's with the phones? He's still mad?" Beat asked.

"No…he's just Neku. Don't feel bad" Shiki replied, looking over her shoulder at Neku. Rhyme looked at Shiki, and thought that Beat looked like he was thinking. All of a sudden, he got excited.

"…Hey! I know! Lemme give you a tip to make up for jumpin' yas. You figure out how to use your phones yet?" Beat asked Shiki. She looked slightly confused.

"You mean our cell phones?" Shiki asked. "Well…we don't get any calls…Sending messages don't work, either. All we do with ours is check the mission mail. Why, do they do something else?"

"We played around a bit, and found some things--" Rhyme said, but was suddenly interrupted by Beat.

"Whoa, you mean you ain't usin' yours?" He asked, interrupting them. "You two gonna get owned down the road, yo!"

"Umm…I guess…" Their newfound friend said, a bit nervous.

"Its cool! You two got questions, you ask us. Gotta put our heads together, you feel me?" Beat asked, and Rhyme secretly felt like smacking her head with the palm of her hand.

_Nice one, with the words, Beat…_She thought, and smiled nervously, and was lucky enough that Shiki understanded what he meant. Shiki had questions, of course, about the phone and their other uses. Rhyme also gave her an extra one of the soda pop pins that restored health, saying that they had extras, which they did. There weren't too many questions, but at least Rhyme and Beat were happy to answer them.

"Thanks for all the info! 'Specially about the phone! That's gonna be a huge help." Shiki said, and Rhyme giggled.

"Heh heh. Good! Always happy to help!" She said, with a big smile. Shiki smiled, too.

"I feel ready to take on anything!" Shiki said, and Beat instantly looked down.

"Yeah well-- you might not wanna say that. Rhyme's thinkin' things is gonna get tough," Beat said, and then suddenly had another smile. "Yo, we should all work together!"

"They say two heads are better than one," Rhyme said, not being able to help herself with her usual logic. "And four heads have to be better than two!"

"Great idea! I am so in! It'll be more fun that way. Right, Neku?" Shiki turned around to Neku, and he turned his head and looked over his shoulder at them. He seemed to be glaring at Beat and Rhyme.

"…Do what you want. I work alone." He replied, with a cold look. His voice was also cold, too. Everyone's smile then vanished, even Rhyme's, which was sometimes rare when she was outside of her home.

"What?! Neku, you can't mean that!" Shiki said, with a misunderstanding look. Neku then turned around to the group, and crossed his arms.

"Forget it. I can't take one more minute of your nagging. I don't need a bunch of strangers bringing me down." He said. Shiki went up to him.

"Neku! How can you say that? We're on your si--" Shiki was interrupted by Neku.

"I can't scan you. You could be players…Or you could be Reapers. I have no way of knowing." He said, still with the cold look.

"But the player pins!" Shiki looked like as if she was gonna cry.

"That's not enough." He replied.

"Yo, Phones!" Beat yelled over to Neku. Hopefully he wasn't gonna start a fight. That was what Rhyme was currently worrying about. Beat starting a fight. "What the hell's your problem? We just lookin' out for you, and you treat us like this?"

"Don't get angry, Beat…" Rhyme said, still worrying. It reminded her too much of her brother's fights with her parents back home, for some reason. "I can see where Neku's coming from. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth."

"Aw, Rhyme…" Beat said, frowning at Rhyme. Looking over at Neku, he shouted fiercely. "You piece a' DIRT! Screw you, we don't want your help! Lets bounce, Rhyme."

Beat then started off on his skateboard, and Rhyme followed behind. She could hear Shiki shouting at Neku, and his insulting replies to Shiki, but they soon drowned out after she and Beat passed by the Moyai statue nearby. She shouted his name, and finally he stopped.

"Beat! You didn't have to go and get so angry. Neku just seems to be the anti-social type." She said, with a sorry look, after catching up to him.

"Meh. Sumthin' about him I don't like. Its like he has a bad aura or sumthin'…" Beat's voice trailed off. He looked at Rhyme, and suddenly picked her up.

"Ah!" She said, at the suddenness of his actions, and he started moving his skateboard.

"Jus' so you don't follow behind," He explained, with a smile. "I did this with my little sis all the time."

"Yeah…now for the mission…aren't there two sculptures in town?" She asked, after a while.

"Hachiko and Moyai, right?" Beat asked.

"Yeah. I think we passed both, though." She said, laughing nervously.

"BWAAAAAH! Then we should turn back!" He said, and made a sharp turn around. She let out a slight scream at that, but otherwise, she was fine. They stopped soon at the Moyai statue, near where they met Shiki and Neku. Beat let Rhyme down, and she concentrated on her player pin, scanning the area. She found one mind, though, that was strange. He was saying how Hachiko did look different, and needed to be cleaned, but that "they" should be working on it.

"Hachiko!" She shouted, after reading the mind more. She turned back to Beat, and shouted again, "Its at Hachiko!"

"Hachiko? Oh, that makes sense!" Beat said, and got on his skateboard, and lowered his back. Rhyme jumped onto it, and Beat held her as if he was giving her a piggy-back ride. They rushed over to Hachiko, where Shiki and Neku were already polishing Hachiko. They were just getting done when they arrived.

"Well, that's great." Beat scoffed, but Rhyme just paid attention to the statue. They were hiding behind the railing.

"There's something about the statue…" Rhyme said, and she was right. Shiki and Neku were talking, but then looked confused at each other. Rhyme could faintly hear a growl coming from the statue. She saw the two partners look at the statue, which formed into wolf Noise. She giggled a little at Neku's surprised look, which was a bit funny.

"Wolves? Now that's interesting, yo." Beat said, his eyes wide at the Noise. The pair attacked one of the Noise, and disappeared. Rhyme wanted to help the two out, but Neku really didn't want any help. Dispite that, and without telling Beat her plan, she placed her fingers between her mouth and whistled as loud as she could. The leftover wolf noise saw her, and ran to her.

"BWAAAAH! Rhyme what are you doin'?!" Beat asked, confused, as he held up his skateboard.

"Well, I know he said that he didn't need help, but I figured you should get your anger out on something." She looked back at him and winked at him.

"But I can't fight properly!" He said, and she eyed his battle cards. They had 5 different cards- Hearts, Clubs, Spades, and Aces. The fifth was a skull card.

"Try to match up two cards of the same symbol. There will be a gauge only you can see, and that gauge will be where your cards are. The line in it will show where the next cards will go. Plan them up, so you get two cards of the same symbol. For example, if you get two heart cards in the middle, on the left, go and put a club/diamond pair up, and on the right, the exact opposite of what you put in the left, which would be a diamond/club pair. I think that's how its done, and I've been noticing that it has been fueling this pin when you make pairs. It isn't needed, but I think it helps." Rhyme said, as fast as she could.

Beat looked confused, but she nodded her head, as they came out of hiding, and struck the Noise. Rhyme kept a good eye on the blank pin, and trusted Beat to do what was needed. She rammed into one of the wolves, unknowingly when running to avoid another wolf's attack, but it was thanks to her other pin that it did damage.

The pin she had suddenly glowed, and the image on it changed. She raised it into the air, and all of a sudden, Beat was right next to her.

"Ready?!" He shouted at the monsters.

"Lets get them!" Rhyme said, and they both slashed away at the Noise on both her's and Beat's fighting area. After a few seconds, they both returned to their own dementions, and the Noise disappeared, erased. Beat joined her after a few minutes.

"Gives you a head rush, doesn't it?" She said to Beat.

"Yeah. How did you do it?" Beat asked, and Rhyme showed him the blank pin.

"It suddenly changed form. It must be a teamwork kind of pin." She said, deep into thought. Her right hand suddenly didn't burn anymore, and a quick glance at it said that the timer was gone. She looked behind, and there was Neku and Shiki, out of breath.

"Le's go now." Beat said, looking at the two. Rhyme concluded that he still was upset at Neku, so she tried to stay out of it. Heading to a nearby bench, the two sat down on it, and without another word, both fell asleep, their heads against each other's.

Week 1, Day 2 End

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Afterword from Rita- God, do I feel so happy to be writing this~ I feel proud of this one, too. Probably because I slaved over my DS for a half hour or so. XD

Review if you get the chance, please~!


	4. Week 1, Day 3: Gold Bat

Foreword from Rita- Yay! More abuse was needed for the DS~! XD

I kinda feel like I messed this one up a bit….But, well…nothing much I can or wanna do… -.-;

Review if you can, please and thank you~!

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This time, it wasn't the crosswalk, or the West bus exit for where Rhyme woke up at. She felt like as it she was in the air- until she realized it was her arm dangling off of a tall building. She looked down, peaking over the edge of the building she was on, which was Towa records. Nervously looking down, she had a slight panic attack.

"Oh, OH!!! Why did it have to be here?!" She said, worried. Beat heard her screams, and woke up.

"Okay, you Reapers! Who the hell dares to mess with Rhyme?!" He shouted, waking up like he did yesterday. She just looked at him as if she just saw something bad. Beat then looked at his surroundings, and realized where he where he was standing at.

"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"

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Somewhere in Lapin Angelique, Neku could have sworn he heard someone screaming, and it was a voice he remembered, but where did It come from?

"Hey, Shiki? Do you hear something?" He asked, but Shiki was happily talking to the store clerk, who called herself "Princess K." He just looked at the two teenage girls talking, then looked back at the selection of clothes, and groaned at them.

"…Never Mind…"

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"EXACTLY." Rhyme replied, with wide eyes, to Beat's screaming. She had to wonder how they got up there. He was pointing at the ground underneath the building. He tried to speak, but the words ran into each other. But then, a deafening screech interrupted his rambling. The two looked behind them, and there was a large group of Noise. Beat prepared his skateboard, but just as Rhyme was getting up, her back to the monsters, one of them went past Beat, and knocked her off the building.

"RHYMEEE!" Beat shouted after her, as she descended. She screamed, but she felt something heavy grab her, and she fell faster to the ground. She started to cry a little, and was trembling. She felt like she had stopped falling now, but she could feel something carrying her now, and her arms wrapped around someone's neck. She opened her eyes, and there was Beat, who was working desperately to get them to escape. It was a few blocks before the Noise stopped bothering them, but she still was frightened at the experience.

Rhyme looked at her surroundings. They were in the Shibuya Main Store area, she noticed, and the first moment their phones buzzed off for what seemed like the day, the two partners opened their phones in unison.

"_Defeat the master of A-East._

_You have 360 minutes._

_Fail, and face erasure._

_The Reapers."_

"The master of A-East?" Rhyme asked, aloud. That was their main hint- It was a t A-East. Beat shrugged.

"I don know bout that. Seems too easy, yo." He said. Rhyme looked at him, with a slightly serious look.

"Yeah, it does seem fishy." She replied.

"As usual, lets scan, yo." Beat suggested, and she took out the pin and scanned the area. At first, she accidentally started reading every mind around her, and it seemed like Beat did too, and it wasn't very good on her ears. Switching back to go through each thought with Beat, she started to skim through them. She read one mind that was heading over to the ramen shop about a blackout, but there wasn't much more to note. After she got done, a message was sent to her phone. She opened it up, wondering what it was.

"_Blackout."_ Was the message. She tilted her head to the side in wonder of the message.

"Black…out?" She asked aloud, and soon the message arrived to Beat's phone. She remembered then, that it must be a meme, which were small notes that gave hints to the mission.

"Well, that's what I got," Beat replied, closing his phone. Rhyme remembered a bit about imprinting, and was about to tell Beat, but he spoke up again. "A meme, possibly."

"Lets try imprinting on that one, over there with it, then. We could get a clue." Rhyme said, pointing at a man. She then scanned them, and using her pin, imprinted it in that person's mind. The man then started rambling about a blackout, and started to walk off, and he seemed to be dizzy.

"You think he'll be aight?" Beat asked, dumbfounded at the man's response, and at imprinting. But, Rhyme somehow knew that he got it.

"Yeah, I think so...As for the master of A-East…who do you think that would be? A reaper, or…a big Noise?" Rhyme asked.

"Well, we should hurry there." Beat replied, hasty as always. But Rhyme grabbed his arm.

"No, Beat. We should get a few answers first. Haste makes waste." She said.

"Well, luck is on our side, right Rhyme?" Beat asked her.

"Beat! Rhyme!" A familiar voice called out. There was Shiki, and right behind her, Neku.

"Heh. Talk about crap for luck, yo. Here comes Phones," Beat said, and then turned to whisper to Rhyme. "Well, it now turned to junk."

Rhyme just nodded, and Shiki walked up to them, as Neku stayed right where he was. Rhyme then started her question.

"Gathered any intel for the mission?" She asked. Shiki looked a little sad.

"No, not at all," But then she started to look a little happy. "But I know we'll get through it! We just have to take out the master of A-East, right?"

"But what's this meme for?" Rhyme asked, and noticed that Shiki was already ready for the fight against the master of A-East.

" 'Meme?' What's a meme?" Shiki asked her, confused. Both Rhyme and Beat were silent.

"I think Shiki could use our help. We can tell her, right?" Rhyme asked Beat, only because she knew how much he despised Neku, after what happened yesterday.

"Well…aight. But only 'cause it's Shiki." Beat said, and again, like yesterday, Shiki asked questions, and the two answered them. The last question was about imprinting.

"So memes are for imprinting." Shiki said, understanding about it. Neku, who was behind her, came up a few steps closer.

"Meaning…what?" He asked.

"Oh. Imprinting's one of the Player Pin's powers. You can use it to send words into other people's heads." She answered. Neku looked at his pin, a little surprised. Rhyme then remembered something, too. "Oh yeah! When you imprint--"

"Yo, forget it Rhyme. Don't bother. Phones don't trust us, anyway." Beat said, annoyed. Rhyme's happy smile disappeared.

"Beat, don't be like that. A problem shared is a problem halved, right? If we don't help each other out, we all…we might…" Rhyme stopped. She was afraid of the possibilities. She knew that Neku worked alone and liked to- which was fine- but that he and Shiki would need help. Beat just wasn't letting her help.

"Ahh! No, no! There's nothing to worry about." Shiki said, but Beat turned around.

"C'mon Rhyme. Le's bounce." He said, picking her up, and making a run for it on his skateboard.

"Beat…" Rhyme started after a few moments. "Why did you have to do that? What if he did--"

"I don't think he trusts us." He interrupted her.

"Still! You never know!" She said, and Beat finally stopped, and put her down. He went off on his skateboard, then, and she ran after, calling his name and telling her to stop. Finally after a bit, she tripped, and stared after him, her eyes filled with tears. She then, was thrown to the side by something. The object a that threw her, being a wolf Noise. She cried out Beat's name once more, and tried to run, but she couldn't.

"Ahhh!" She cried out, being struck again. She got up this time, but the wolf was running like mad around her. She bent down, covering her head with her arms for protection, eyes closed. She heard something fly over her head, and the Noise shout in pain. Opening one eye, she found Beat striking it, and a battle started. She suddenly got up, and started to fight, but before she could strike the single Noise, Beat had already erased it.

He stood in front of her, looking sorry. He lowered his head, and said, "I'm sorry, yo. I was just frustrated…"

"Its okay. You just startled me…" Rhyme said, trying to smile. It was a small one, but it made Beat smile a little, too.

"I shouldn't have. But…I think it was because you reminded me of my sister so much, that I came back. Plus, you my partner, yo." He said.

"But…I remind you of her?" Rhyme asked, tilting her head to the side in wonder. He nodded, and his smile faded.

"Yeah…It was a car accident that I died in to protect her. Not sure if she's livin' life or not." He said, and started to cry again. Rhyme was just shocked.

"I had a big brother who died protecting me in a car crash…would it just be a coincidence?" She asked, still shocked.

"Yeah, it may be one." He said, and rubbed his eyes. Rhyme stood there, and quickly checked her timer, wanting to try to think of something else. There was a half of a hour left, and she quickly scanned.

"I think I remember seeing a small gold bat over at A-East last week…I still have to wonder about it."

Rhyme paused, continuing to read the memory, and then, her phone got a new meme. She opened it up, and there were the words, "Gold Bat".

"The master of A-East is a gold bat?" She asked aloud, as Beat got the same meme.

"A gold bat…we gotta bounce there, then!" Beat said, shouting, and ready to head off.

"Wait! We don't need to rush!" Rhyme said, and she ran behind. They didn't rush there, and that resulted with them getting there sooner, by remembering small shortcuts from their location.

"So, what do we have to do now, yo?" Beat asked.

"We need to find a gold bat." Rhyme said, and pointed to the building.

"We don't have time for 'em, though! We need to fight the master!" Beat said, confusing himself.

"I'm telling you, we need to find a gold bat." Rhyme continued.

"But why a gold bat?" Beat asked. Rhyme opened up her cell phone and pointed to the mission message when it popped up.

"It's the master, Beat. I've been trying to tell you that."

"Then we gotta hurry! We don't have time!"

"We don't have time for mistakes, either. Haste makes waste." Rhyme finished, and pointed to the building.

They ran into the building, and Neku and Shiki were fighting a big Noise. They couldn't see them, but the two could sense them. Finally, they came back. Rhyme checked the clock, again, and was surprised to see less than 5 minutes left on it, instead of it gone.

"Geez! Talk about a heart attack!" Rhyme heard Shiki shout. But then Shiki seemed to calm down. "But…that was the master, right?"

"Nope! Clock's still ticking!" Neku shouted, and Beat checked his clock.

"Son of a…" He murmured worryingly, but Shiki raised her voice.

"You're kidding! Then…where's the master?!" Shiki shouted, interrupting Beat.

"No! We're out of time!" Neku shouted. Beat tapped Rhyme's shoulder, and pointed at something. She could then see a glittering shine. They nodded at each other, and Beat got on his skateboard.

"Don't drop the ball now, yo!" Beat shouted, and ran ahead of Rhyme, as she readied for a big jump. "Here's your 'master'!"

Both of the two jumped high into the air. Beat hit it with his skateboard, as Rhyme slashed it with a pin. They landed safely, but as an aftershock of the land, Rhyme fell back, but she wasn't hurt. Footsteps were heard, as Neku and Shiki both ran up to the two.

"Beat! Rhyme!" Shiki yelled.

"Yo, looks like we made it." Beat said, and Rhyme checked her hand, with a sigh of relief.

"Yup! The timer's gone now. Mission complete." Rhyme said, with a smile as always.

"Huh? Its fixed!" A voice in the distance was heard. The four looked back, at two men, one who was working with the lights, the other supervising the man who was working.

"You sure?" The man who was watching the mechanical work asked.

"Uh-huh. The lights should work now." The mechanic said.

"Okay, I'm gonna go tell the others!" The other one said, and ran off.

"Looks like they're in business." Neku said, and Rhyme walked over to them.

"This place is gonna fill right up. We should step outside for now." She recommended, and they did so. Outside, the two explained how the big bat wasn't just the master.

"Oh, so taking out the giant bat wasn't enough! Whoops. Good thing you two came along. We owe you!" Shiki said, smiling softly.

"Man…You two shoulda gathered more info, yo." Beat said, then eyed Neku. "I'm talkin to you, Phones!"

"Hee hee." Rhyme giggled. Beat just looked at her.

"What, Rhyme?" He asked.

"Stop trying to act so tough. We didn't have all the info, either! You wouldn't have found the little golden bat if it wasn't for them. Know why?" Rhyme asked Beat.

"Let me guess. We had to beat the big golden bat, first." Neku guessed.

"Bwaaaaah! Yeah…You act like you got the answers now, but you was freakin' out before!"

"So were you, Beat." Rhyme giggled again.

"Bwaaaaah! Who's side you on, yo?" Beat asked, and Shiki laughed. Rhyme joined in. "Least I got the job done, aight?"

Neku then let out a small laugh. Beat turned around, back to Neku.

"Hey, I heard that, yo! Who said YOU could laugh at me?" Beat asked, but Shiki came up to Neku.

"Look. The concert's starting," She said, changing the subject, but then looked a little concerned. "Wait…"

" 'Sup now?" Beat asked, a bit confused, too.

"How come we were able to talk to him? You know, 777." Shiki asked Neku.

" 'Cause he's a Reaper." Neku bluntly replied.

"WHAT?!" Shiki shouted, surprised at Neku's answer.

"Mr. Hanekoma explained all this. Did you forget?" Neku asked. Shiki paused for a few minutes.

"That's right…He mentioned only Reapers and other Players can see us. So we're on our own." Shiki said, and Neku was silent. Rhyme also paused for a moment, thinking about when they saw Shiki and Neku earlier in the day.

"You think…You think we'll make it?" Rhyme asked.

"We'll make it." Neku answered. Rhyme was shocked that Neku was the one answering. "No matter what!"

"Heh. Think you can deliver, Phones?" Beat asked Neku.

"Hey, you know…we really do make a good team. Starting tomorrow, what do you say we work together? We only survived because of teamwork." Shiki asked, and Neku seemed to nod his head a little.

_Did he change his mind? _Rhyme thought, as she said, "I agree! And what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger."

"If Rhyme's down with it, then so am I." Beat replied. Shiki turned to Neku.

"No objections, Neku?" Shiki asked her partner. But he was silent for a few minutes. "Hey, Neku. Remember what Mr. Hanekoma said."

"Just don't drag me down." He finally spoke, and turned away from the small group. Shiki was happy.

"Yay! That settles it. Here's to teamwork!"

Week 1, Day 3 End


	5. Week 1, Day 4: Erasure

Foreword from Rita- Yes...the dreaded chapter...And I already hate this one. TT_TT

Well...the fanfictions are moving a bit slowly, unfortunately, but I am working on them...And I think this is the shortest chapter so far. O O"

Disclaimer: No, I don't own The World Ends With You. If I did, then the whole game would be different as we know it.

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Rhyme woke up with a yawn. She was at the 104 building, and Beat, Shiki, and Neku were next to her, asleep. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary today, which was a great help.

"Dare mess with 'er and I'll kick your…" Beat mumbled in his sleep.

"Do it and I'll send a fire stream your way…" Neku replied in his sleep.

"Stop it, you two…" Shiki was the third to speak in her sleep. Rhyme laughed. The three seemed to be having a similar dream, but their responses were funnier. Her laugh made Beat jump.

"Okay, punk! Bring it on-- Bwaaaaah! Not again!" Beat shouted, waking up at the same time. Rhyme continued to laugh, but Beat's shouting woke up Shiki.

"Huh…? So loud…" She mumbled, but she got up.

"All of you three were talking in your sleep! And your phrases matched, as if you actually were speaking." Rhyme said, laughing.

"Huh…" Shiki was surprised at that. They started to watch the people around them, and were silent. After a few minutes, a loud yawn was heard, and the three looked at Neku, who was stretching.

"Where am I now?" He asked, still sleepy.

"Hey, you awake?" Shiki asked Neku.

"What are you doing?" Neku asked back.

"Just people-watching," Shiki replied. "I mean, look at them all… Shibuya's so diverse. And everybody's got their own story."

"But yo, you ever try scanning 'em all? Its like havin' the radio on every channel at once." Beat said, and Rhyme instantly remembered yesterday's scanning.

"Yeah…Like everybody's values are all trying to come in the loudest. No other town compares." Rhyme said.

"Shibuya's a battlefield." Shiki said, a little unhappy.

"But man…All these people, and they can't even see us, yo." Beat said, and Rhyme also was a bit unhappy then.

"Yeah…Makes you sad, huh?" Rhyme asked. Right at that moment, their phones went buzzing.

"Mission time, yo!" Beat shouted, exited that the mission had arrived.

"Nothing the four of us can't handle!" Shiki replied.

"Yeah!" Rhyme replied cheerfully, as they all flipped open their cell phones.

"Reach Towa Records. No time limit. Fail, and face erasure. - The Reapers." Beat read aloud.

"Huh? No time limit? But…that's waaay simple!" Shiki almost complained.

"Towa Records is a ten-minute walk. Why wouldn't they set a time limit?" Rhyme asked.

"So we're just walkin' a couple blocks? Man. I was pumped for a brawl, yo!" Beat complained.

"Guess we don't need to team up." Neku said, bluntly, and everyone was silent.

"Yo, hold up! I jus' got a great idea!" Beat shouted.

"So what's your great idea?" Shiki asked.

"How 'bout you two race us two, and we see who gets to Towa Records first?" Beat asked.

"Whaaat?" Neku asked.

"C'mon Rhyme, le's book it!" Beat told Rhyme, and she was shocked as he ran off.

"Wha…huh?! Wait, Beat!" Rhyme shouted after Beat, but he continued to run.

"Heh heh…Beat's got a lot of energy, huh?" Shiki asked.

"Yeah. He keeps me on the ball. Sometimes, he can get a little crazy, though." Rhyme said, and remembered what happened earlier for an example. "Beat's the one who asked me to be his partner."

"Wow, so you-- Ah! Omigosh…Rhyme, is that what I think it is?" Shiki asked, a bit startled.

"Huh? What?" Rhyme asked, confused.

"That pendant! Where did you find one?" Shiki asked, looking at her pendant. Rhyme looked down at it.

"Oh, this? Yeah, I heard they sold out quick. How'd you know about it?" Rhyme asked Shiki.

"I saw it in a magazine. I looove following the latest clothes and accessories. Lucky…I wanted one sooo bad." Shiki said.

"I'm sorry I can't give you mine. But it was a present from my brother." Rhyme said, smiling softly, but with a sad look in her eyes.

"You've got a brother?" Shiki asked.

"Yeah. Older. He's really nice. Hope he's OK…" Rhyme said, remembering how she died after her brother did.

"Oh, I'm sure he's doing great. And you'll see him soon!" Shiki said, in hopes of trying to cheer up Rhyme.

"Yeah…I hope so," Rhyme smiled again. "So you're into fashion?"

"Totally! I want to be a designer. I love making clothes. But right now it's just a hobby." Shiki said, smiling.

"I still think it's pretty cool. It must be nice to have a dream--- to be head over heels about something. I don't know what its like. Not really." Rhyme said, back in the dumps again.

"Why not?" Shiki asked, tilting her head to the side. "You don't have any dreams?"

"No…But when I look at Beat I think: keep moving forward. Because someday my dream will find me." Rhyme said, perking up again.

"Yeah." Shiki replied.

"Beat's really good at skateboarding. He says his dream is to be the world's greatest skater. If he can do it, then so can I. Right Shi--"

"YO, RHYME!" A voice called up, interrupting Rhyme. "Whatchu doin'? Move it! We don't want Phones to win!"

Rhyme sighed. "Just a minute, Beat! Patience is a virtue!" She turned back to Neku and Shiki. "Well, I'd better go. See you at Towa Records!"

Rhyme then ran over to Beat, who was pretty far up ahead. After a few minutes, she finally catched up to him.

"Man, you really want Phones to win?" Beat asked Rhyme.

"I was talking to Shiki. She saw my pendant." Rhyme explained. They were walking over, and Beat looked behind him.

"Seems like they're taking a detour." He mumbled. "If we get to Cadoi city and they aren't close, then we gonna wait for 'em."

"That's fine with me." Rhyme replied. There were a few walls along the way, and the reapers only requested that the two bring some pins, and surprisingly, they had the pins on hand, so they were able to get to Cadoi city along the way. They stopped by the building, and waited for the two, knowing that they haven't gotten there yet. The clock was still ticking.

"Well, do ya see 'em, Rhyme?" Beat asked her. She shook her head.

"No, I don't…" She replied. At that moment, a faint cry could be heard.

"Dooooooooooon't!" The voice pleaded. It sounded a lot like Neku.

"Was that Phones screaming?" Beat asked.

"I'm not sure. It really did sound like him…" Rhyme's voice trailed off. A few moments later, Shiki and Neku came into view. Shiki looked happy, yet Neku looked nervous, as if his personal space was violated. But Rhyme felt like she shouldn't ask about it.

"There's Beat and Rhyme!" Shiki told Neku, as they ran up.

"The hell you been, yo? This is a race! Ain't you even tryin'?" Beat asked the two. Neku finally sighed and returned to his usual self.

"Nope. You're on your own there." Neku replied.

"Ain't you angry you lost? Don't you wanna WIN?" Beat asked Neku.

"Don't YOU? Why did you wait for us?" Neku answered with a question. Beat tried to come up with an excuse.

"We…We was just…" Beat tried to say, but Rhyme let a giggle slip.

"Beat said we should let you catch up." Rhyme said, letting out the truth.

"Bwaaaaah! Yo, Rhyme, can it!" Beat shouted at Rhyme, embarrassed.

"Aww, Beat's a big softy underneath!" Shiki said.

"Shh…Shiki! Not you, too! I…I just wanted to see Phones squirm, tha's all. Now le's get this mission over with. We got here first, so we win. Eat that, slowpokes." Beat told Neku and Shiki.

"Uh-huh. Consider it eaten." Neku said, not caring.

"Heh heh! C'mon Rhyme. Le's bounce!" Beat said, and ran up ahead to Towa records.

"W-Wait up, Beat! You're going to trip if you don't slow down!" Rhyme shouted, and started to run after him. A few people separated them, but then she finally saw Beat. He waved to her, and she started to run after him, but as she got closer, she noticed a Noise symbol approaching underneath Beat's feet.

Adrenaline pushing her, she started to run to him, knowing that it was a trap. She finally caught up to him, and he looked worried. With all of her strength, she pushed him back, and an image flashed in her head as she pushed him. The image, she remembered, was her opening her mouth to scream, but there was someone grabbing her to protect her. The person was a white blank, but the figure that was completely white was now coming to her. It looked like….like Beat.

Her head felt like it was on fire, but she looked up at Beat just a few moments. She could sense the Noise right behind her, and she softly smiled, and mouthed, "I'm sorry."

Before she could scream, she was gone. She felt her body fading into darkness. She didn't know where she was, but she didn't want to see anything else around her. She soon felt different, and as if she was enclosed in something small a few minutes later. Opening her eyes, she found herself to be pink, and…furry? Strange…

_I'm…pink…and…Are these claws?! Red ones, too…wait a minute….The tail, too…Am…am I a Noise now? Oh no…_Rhyme thought, as she curled up in her new Noise form. She couldn't believe that this was happening, and it scared her, too. A blue light flashed at her, but she ignored it. Closing her eyes, she wanted to awaken from this nightmare, but she fell into a deep sleep.

Week 1, Day 4 End.


	6. Week 2, Day 1: Pink Flying Squirrel

Foreword from Rita - Yes, finally, I update this! I was working on a few things, so I do apologize for the lateness of this chapter…

Disclaimer - I do not own TWEWY. If I did, then it would be an Okage sequel instead.

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She opened her eyes again, when she was allowed to. She felt a bit hyper, but looking around, she was in the Reaper's home…or so it seemed to be. There were some items around, that just screamed that Reapers were around, so she assumed it. She was standing on top of a glass coffee table, and she saw her own reflection.

_I'm…a…squirrel…A squirrel…_ Rhyme thought, while letting out a short small animal-like screech, and her fur puffed out. She scrambled to move around, her claws scratching the glass coffee table, making noise, and she finally jumped to the nearby couch, and hid underneath a couch cushion. She cowered, and dug her face into the ground, her paws covering her face, while her tail was underneath her, and closed her eyes.

A few moments later, the cushion was lifted, and she could sense a Reaper looking down at her. Expecting for them to be scowling at her, she opened one eye. There was a familiar person, and then after a few minutes, realized that it was Beat. Her head hurt for a second, as all of her memories missing at the time of the game, came back as quick flashbacks.

After about 5 minutes of constant flashbacks, she wearily looked up at him, and he was smiling. But yet…something was different about him, too. He smiled at her, and lifted the cowering squirrel up then, and she shivered. She finally noticed the black Reaper wings on his back.

"Rhyme…Rhyme!" He shouted, and hugged her. She let out a squeak of happiness, but it was coughed out. She pawed at Beat, telling him that he was hugging her too hard.

"Sorry." He replied to her, as he placed the small animal on his shoulder, and she managed to get a good hold to stay on. She dug her claws into his tank top, but softly, as to not hurt him. She softly cried, happy to be there. Rhyme knew finally that Beat was her brother, and she felt guilty for not knowing it was him during the time of the game.

Beat responded by patting her head, gently reassuring her. He smiled softly, as she looked up to her brother. "Is okay. You didn't know, Rhyme."

She still felt sad, wondering how much pain she had caused Beat when they saw each other in the game. The memory repeated over and over in her head.

"_Nice to meet you!"_

Rhyme still wasn't assured. Her brother continued to comfort her, but she still cried. Her repeatedly shouted squeaks were cries of "I'm so sorry!", as Beat could translate. After she was handed a tissue that was bigger than her, she wiped her tears, as there was a loud knock on a nearby door. She looked at it, confused and scared, while Beat looked at it scornfully. The door opened slowly, and Rhyme scurried to the safety provided underneath Beat's hat. She pulled the hat down, though, and soon only her nose was visible.

"Yo, Rhyme, its okay. Its just my boss, and a few others." He said, as a few pairs of footsteps were heard. The murmuring of Reapers rung through the room, and Rhyme flinched.

"So, Megs, what brings us here?" A male voice, just a bit older than Beat's, asked.

"Minamimoto! You're to refer to him as Mr. Kitaniji!" An older female voice replied angrily at the voice.

"It's fine, Konishi. Now, onto the meeting…Sho Minamimoto here is our GM of the week," A different, and older male voice announced. "Also, we have a new Reaper. Meet Daisuke---ahem, excuse me, Beat. And a new Noise too. The one underneath his hat."

"Sup?" Beat asked. He looked up at the little black Noise nose that he saw, and lifting his hat up, he revealed Rhyme, who in turn, gave a small screech at the sight of the Reapers, and pulled down Beat's hat over her tiny body.

_Oh my lord…what has Beat done?_ Rhyme thought to herself, leaving whimpering squeaks. The hat was brought up again, and she was slowly lifted off of Beat's head. She was staring into the eyes of a familiar pink-haired reaper- the same one that sent a barrage of Noise at Beat and herself on their first day of the game.

"Hmm…a small one, huh? Will she even work?" The reaper asked. Rhyme couldn't help but give a small growl. In return, the young-girl-turned-squirrel received a glare in return. She was then handed back over to Beat.

"Well, that concludes this all for now." The head Reaper said. The other Reapers started to leave, and Beat followed, but he was stopped by the head Reaper.

"Whatchu want?" Beat asked, impolitely to the reaper, who cleared his throat.

"Well, now…As Conductor, you are to refer to me as Mr. Kitaniji…" Mr. Kitaniji said, and Rhyme looked out from her hiding spot, daring to not growl a small squirrel-like growl.

"Well, what is it?" Beat asked, impatiently. Rhyme tugged on his hair, telling him to be patient. He just looked up at her.

"Your… 'friend' perhaps…As you know, he is in the game again. Now, I'm going to give you a special order, and do so…and the Composer promises to make that squirrel into human again, with a few exceptions of course…but it is also necessary that you do this." Kitaniji said, and Beat looked at him in interest.

"What do I have to do?" Beat asked, and Rhyme looked at Kitaniji with a careful eye.

_I'm not liking this…I'm not liking this, and this guy, at all…_ Rhyme thought to herself, and cowered.

"…Erase them, by all means. Whether you attack them directly…or not." Kitaniji said, and Rhyme screamed. Beat though, was fast enough to cover her small mouth.

_What…What the?! Beat, please don't do this at all!_ Rhyme pleaded in her mind, and whimpered. Beat was shocked, too, but he lowered his head.

"Yeah…I will do so." Beat said, and Rhyme tugged on his hair again. He didn't show any reaction, but he then left. After leaving, and when Kitaniji wasn't around, Rhyme took advantage of being an animal who could fly for small periods, and hopped off his head. She flew right in front of him, and began to speak.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak squeak!! _(What the heck are you thinking?!_)" She said, but before she could get more, her small wings failed her, and she fell right into the ground. Beat snickered, as he picked her up.

"Sorry, but this is what I have to do, yo." He replied, and placed her on his shoulder. She whimpered once more, but fell asleep, as she thought that the day was coming to an end.

_Week 2, Day 1 END_


End file.
